Suit-case frame.



A. PETERSON.

SUIT CASE FRAME. APPLIOATIOIAIYIILBD JULY 13,1908.

Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

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/ ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT PETERSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO BEN. P. STROMBERG AND LEO M. KRAUS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SUIT-CASE FRAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented .Tan. 26, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT PETERSON, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Suit- Oase Frames, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in suit-case frames; and it consists in the novel construction and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of suit-case to which my invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 showing suitcase as partly open; and Fig. 3 is an end elevation of another form of suit-case parts being broken away, showing the application of my improvement thereto.

The object of my invention is to provide a frame which shall serve as an effective stiffener in the construction of the hinged sections of a suit-case, the frame being applicable to suit-cases of various designs and depths, including extension or folding cases.

A further object is to provide a frame over which the material (leather, cloth, canvas, and the like) forming the outer covering of the case may be passed without the danger of the material cracking at the edges of the case; a further object is to utilize the frame as a substitute for the prevailing wooden frames now entering into suit-case constructions thereby simplifying and cheapening the cost of manufacture, the present frame (which is metallic) subserving the same function for supporting a hinged lid usually mounted in connection with one of the hinged sections where the latter is used as a compartment for holding articles as distinguished from a mere lid or top.

The advantages of the invention will be better apparent from a detailed description thereof which is as follows Referring to the drawings, and for the present to Figs. 1 to 2 inclusive, (1, 1), represent the two-hinged sections of a suit-case where each section is utilized for storing articles. Disposed along the free edge of the section b is a metal frame F composed of angle iron, (though any other suitable crosssection as a tee will answer the same purpose) the wider legs or members 1 of the angle iron being disposed in the planes of the bounding walls of the section b, and the shorter legs 2 being disposed at right angles thereto, and collectively serving as a ledge for the support of the sides and free end of a lid L hinged along one of its edges to the inner longitudinal leg 2 of the angle-bar frame. The center of the outer leg 1 of the frame serves as a means for securing the handle H, the rigidity of the frame as a whole preventing any distortion of the case when weighted down with heavy contents and when being carried by the handle. The presence of the frame F at the edge of the section 7) permits the placing of the handle close to the joint formed by the closing of the sections, so that the case hangs perfectly balanced when carried.

The corners of the frame are well rounded, thus permitting the use of the frame as a construction feature in shallow lids b as shown in the modified form in Fig. 3 where the lid is hinged to the case a. When used as a lidframe, the outer covering C of the lid, be it the same leather or e uivalent material, is passed over the rounds corners of the frame, the curvature of said corners preventing the cracking of the leather, an objection so conspicuous with the majority of suit-cases as now constructed.

The foregoing are some of the applications and purposes which the present frame will serve, but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that as a feature of suit-case constructions it may be utilized for any number of similar or equivalent purposes, and adapted in similar relations. The advantages enumerated therefor are apparent from the drawings.

Such features of construction as are shown but to which no reference is herein made are well known and require no description.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In combination with a hinged suit-case section, an angle-iron frame disposed at the free inner edges thereof, the inner legs of the angle-iron forming a ledge within the section at a suitable distance from the free edges of the section, and a lid hinged to and supported by said ledge, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with a. suit-ease section, In testimony whereof I effix my signature, an angle-iron framefzit theffriefi edgels obf the in presence of two Witnesses. section, one series 0 egs 0 e eng e eing" disposed in the planes of the bounding Walls ALBERT ETERSQN, V

5 of the section, and the other series at an an- -Witnesses:

gle thereto, and projecting inwardly, substan- EMIL STAREK, tially as set forth. Jos. A. MICHEL. 

